A little blog about a little journey to make our little family bigger. Follow the story of two wives' experience with alternative methods to making a baby. Learn a little, laugh a little (God willing, a lot, sometime's Kate's game is off) and cross your fingers for a little plus sign.

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Monday, March 24, 2014

Saturday we entered week 6 of pregnancy and although it hasn't been a ton of time, a lot is happening! First of all, my knockers are getting huge. They are also very sore. If you hug me tighter than a slightly awkward bro hug, I will probably punch you in the pancreas. But I figure- flaunt it while you have it. Second, by 2pm I am willing to nap anywhere. Legit. If I yawn while I'm with you, it's not you, it's me... unless it's you. You know what? Just bring me some sort of cheese related food and we'll all be fine. Also, please excuse the hormonal induced prepubescent acne festival that is happening on my chin. Much like the US with Justin Beiber, I'm doing what I can with it, but we're all just waiting for it to recede and it will probably leave an ugly scar.

By now our little kinder is the size of a pea! Currently, it has a beating heart and blood is running through Sweet Pea's (new name for the week) body. It is also starting to develop a nose, mouth and ears. It's probably looking similar to a newborn puppy with fins. The intestines and the tissue that will become the lungs are also forming. And the brain and bones are soon to be completed. Guys. I can't even finish making a gym playlist in the time all this stuff is happening.

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Since our last post I have traveled to Cincinnati, Kentucky and New York (twice in one week) and in somewhere in there I've been stuck with a needle not once, but twice. Go hard or go home right? At least I got to be in the same room as Idina Menzel this weekend <swoon>... but back to the blog about our baby. The Monday following our good news, and then again today, the doctor had me come in to check my HcG levels (the pregnancy hormone your body produces when a fertilized egg attaches to your uterus #science). Let me break it down for ya'.

Week 4 (3/8-3/14)- The baby was as big as a poppy seed (Meg referred to it as Poppy).

Week 5 (3/15-3/21)- The baby is as big as an apple seed (I nicknamed it Lil' Mac... like a Macintosh apple #nerdalert).

On Monday I went into the doctor's office first thing in the morning, had blood drawn and ran home to finish packing. Then I grabbed a cab and headed to Logan airport to fly out for a business trip all week. Said trip was planned before we got the good news. Cause, honestly, the last thing I wanted to be doing was sitting on a crowded (and delayed) Delta flight with a 1oz bag of complimentary nuts. The office called me right before I boarded the plane to inform me that my HcG levels had been 81 on Friday and they were up to 191 on Monday! That's definitely within the "normal" range. Awesome news.

I spent most of last week in Cincinnati for business meetings and had to tell my boss and accompanying co-worker that I was pregnant for multiple reasons.

1. Business trips are code for little bit o' meetins, then lot o' bit o' drinkin', on the company dime. And I couldn't.

2.You're going to constantly be rubbing your chest. (sorry, boss) When they say that your boobs are gonna hurt, they mean it. Scientifically speaking, your jugs are preparing to become milkin' machines. They also begin increasing in size sometimes as fast as a cup size in the first week/2 weeks.(you're welcome, boss). 3. You're gonna be exhausted. I never take naps. Ever. Meg has even stated that she has never seen me sleep when it's light outside. I am now falling asleep everywhere. I slept on a plane with a "frequent leg crossing shifter" behind me that kicked my chair like they were trying to try out for the World Cup.

When you're trying to make it to abathroom with a full bladder.

4. Bathrooms. You must always know where one is. Because you're going to have to go all the time. You will wake up at 12:59am (aka last night) and fear you won't make it. There's a lot happening in that nether region and it is starting to take over the neighborhood putting pressure on your bladder, so that's fun.

5. Emotions. You haz them. Not to mention hot flashes. I was in NYC during 15 degree weather and someone said I look like I got a sunburn in a matter of 10 seconds. I'll enjoy it now before it gets so hot I try not to move from the wall A/C unit unless food or peeing is involved.

Today I went in for more blood work and my levels increased to 2,341! Woohoo! Next is an ultrasound on March 31st to see how Lil' Mac is doing. If all looks good our reproductive clinic will discharge us to our OB/GYN! Stay tuned.

Monday, March 10, 2014

Hey team. So now that the glitter has settled on the floor... oh, I'm sorry... you haven't heard?

Meg's aunt knittedthis baby hat in a day y'all

First of all, thank you for all of your congratulations and well wishes! We're really touched. We know that pregnancies typically aren't announced until after 12+ weeks (the risk of loss reduces after the 1st trimester), but when we decided to start this blog we knew we would need to make this announcement early. It's something we really gave a lot of thought to before even starting this blog. As we've said before, 50% of this blog is to keep friends and family up-to-date on our process, 50% to educate and 15% to peddle my humor. I'm also bad at math. Anyway, we feel like we're all in this together now! That being said, we are optimistically holding our breath until each update from our RE and soon our OBGYN.

So, with that said, let's go back to last week. Tuesday was 10 DPIUI and that morning I caved and took a First Response Early Results pregnancy test. I looked at the test mentally telling myself, "You're not out of the game yet if it's negative... it's still early." I picked it up and I saw the slightest line. I ran around trying to look at it in different light and took 800 pictures altering it with different photo filters. #crazypants, but there was something there. Meg was already on her way to work, so I texted a picture to her and then it hit me... I took a 250mg HCG trigger shot 10 days previous. What if this positive is really just reading the remainder of the HCG in my system. Thus began a Google frenzy of epic proportions. Even though the internet pretty solidly confirmed that all of the HCG from the shot was out of my system, I got so little sleep. Can't drink and can't pop <sleeping> pills. The things you do for love.

The next morning I got up and tested again- this time the line was little darker... it should get lighter if it was only the trigger shot leaving my system right? Another day of obsessive Googling- trigger shot Hcg leaves your system with a half life of about 24 hours. So technically it should have been out of my system after 7 days post trigger shot and we were at 13. We had 2 more days to wait for blood work and you know what that means? Yeah I gotta buy more pregnancy tests. Don't worry Dad, I found coupons online. Thursday I woke up at 1am and HAD to go to the bathroom. I actually had to go a lot more lately and I didn't want to think that it was a good sign. That same day I started to break out like I was back in middle school again- minus the track suit and mimicking my eye make-up after Barbra Streisand circa "Funny Girl". Since I did get up and go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, I felt my FMU (firs morning's urine) wasn't "potent" enough and that may have caused the line that showed up to not be *much darker* than the day before. HcG should double every 48 hours. Friday we had a blood test, but you know I had to test at home before heading to the doctor (thanks for not thinking I'm crazy Meg or, at least, not saying it out loud). Friday morning we got solid two dark lines on one test and a positive digital test, too! 5 Excruciating hours later, the doctor confirmed that the blood test results were also positive.

So. Our families are ELATED, but they're in the same cautiously optimistic boat we're in. So

prayers/good thoughts/theme related showtune mix tapes are welcome as we get through the next few crucial weeks. This morning I went back to the RE for follow-up blood tests to make sure my HCG levels are doubling as they should. More on that later.

Right now: I could sleep at any and every moment of the day.

I have so much make-up on my face covering my pregnancy related acne that it's become the consistency of spackle.

And I want to eat all the time.

Our family surprised us withour first baby gifts (that sonograph is somebody else's baby. Creepy, but also sweet.)

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Hey team. So we left off at our latest attempt in OBM (Operation Baby Makin') by way of ovulation monitoring including several ultrasounds to measure follicles and blood work to measure LH (Luteinizing Hormone) and Progesterone. We got the thumbs up on Thursday the 20th that I had a baller follicle and my Be-uterine lining was also stellar. Then Meg shot me in the stomach... with a needle of HCG to help induce ovulation within 36 hours and on Saturday the 22nd we inseminated!

The past two weeks have been as rough as any TWW we've experienced. I spent the first 7 days telling myself every second that I need to remember that I took a shot that injected me with a pregnancy hormone and that "those feelings" aren't real. And then obsessively Google how long it takes to get that mess out of your system so you can cave to the early testing we inevitably cave to. I chose to think as positively as possible this cycle. We did EVERYTHING we could possibly do other than IVF to make this cycle as optimal as possible so I chose to think that we ARE going to be pregnant. Well, that is until one day during the cycle- maybe

hormones, maybe I was hangry- when the thought weaseled into my mind, "You might not be- again." And then a negative pregnancy test image popped into my head. That was my version of saying "that Scottish play" in a theater. It took me days to come out of that funk. But, again, I'm forcing myself to think positively. Reminding myself we did everything possible to make this happen and, also, that timing things just right to make a baby is harder than that Flappy Bird game.

I have also been communicating more with friends who are going through this/have been through this- thanks ladies, you're all gems. I can't stress this enough- if you are choosing to go through this venture it is beyond necessary to have proper support. Because you can't have booze. Don't get me wrong, Meg is my rock. But sometimes you need to discuss irrational feelings with another person who has been through this Rock n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith-like journey. Or when you need to talk about bodily functions that would only chip away at the incredibly sexy image of myself I have

Potential Baby Name?

meticulously crafted in Meg's mind <sarcasm>. And sometimes you let your crazy emotions join forces with your positive vibes and start talking about things that you would normally say fall into the "jinx bucket" of conversations, like potential baby names. But with your Soul Cysters (I can take no credit for that one- thanks internet) it's totally kosher. But really. Find your outlets.

So now we wait until Friday morning for blood work. So pray to whatever deity you believe in that we get good news.